WASHINGTON (September 17, 2012) – The House of Representatives this week is moving forward a bill that would let big polluters increase air pollution, dump more hazardous coal ash into America’s streams and rivers and strip away fundamental health and environmental protections under the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act.

The following is a statement from Franz Matzner, associate director of government affairs for the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“Disingenuously spinning this as some sort of jobs legislation does not hide House Republican leadership’s true purpose: To continue gutting our fundamental environmental and health protections just to please political supporters.

“No amount of rebranding can change the facts: dirty air and water won’t create jobs, but it will pollute our lungs, contaminate our water and devastate our communities.

“Despite all the other pressing issues America faces, it’s unfortunate but not surprising that Republican leadership continues to spend time dismantling our basic environmental protections. This is what they’ve been doing since they took control of the House.”

The House has voted more than 300 times to block or eliminate fundamental environmental protections, making it the most anti-environmental House in history, according to a House Committee on Energy & Commerce database. See here for details.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.